


Bonded for Life.

by Jynova



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But then what world isn't amirite?!, Fluff, KIDS KIDS KIDS, Lords and Ladys, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other, Pets/Hybrids, Sexual Abuse, Unfair World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 11:35:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16062275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jynova/pseuds/Jynova
Summary: In a world where Pet Hybrids are bred to be sex slaves and are degraded, mistreated, and manhandled, Aomine Daiki is a prized panther hybrid raised (abused) to be auctioned to the highest bidder. He escapes and finds out exactly what a harsh world it is until he comes across a magnanimous redheaded Lord (Kagami Taiga) who almost succeeds at shattering Aomine's pessimistic world views. Can both individuals salvage their relationship or will they succumb to the unfair societal norms?





	1. Willingly weak or weakly willing

**Author's Note:**

> I've literally had 10 of the 12 chapters of this fic. written in my G-DRIVE for AGES. It bugged me so I took a few min. and finished it so HERE IT IS...
> 
> **David Attenborough Voice** And here we see a RARE FINISHED fic. by Jynova about to embark on its maiden voyage on a fanfiction website. Although from here on out it will encounter many hardships, the toughest adversity of its life has been overcome as it has already made it into the 1% of stories that have actually survived enough to be completed.

Aomine always knew this day was inevitable. Still, even knowing that, even after attempt after attempt at preparing himself for it, he’d still failed miserably. And that’s because he’d fallen wildly, irrevocably in love with the man who saved him, the man who gave him a shelter and adopted him as his pet, despite his crass attitude and initial absolute unwillingness to be ‘owned.’ There was a point when Aomine had naively even thought that Kagami Taiga had given him a home. Because to Aomine, home wasn’t necessarily a roof over his head or food on the table… no, it was a sense of belonging.

Yet, all along, even with the phenomenal sex, the affectionate looks, the stifling intimacy between the two, Kagami had always, sometimes subtly sometimes outrightly reminded Aomine of the inevitability of his station, and subsequently, Aomine’s own.

Still, Aomine had developed a sort of sense of security from how many of the suitresses Kagami had turned away. Sure, with the size of the Kagami estate, there were bound to be an excess of supplicants, but even so, Aomine had watched Kagami turn down one after the other after the other for coming up on four years now. 

Aomine had never met any of the women, had always made sure he was far away when ‘negotiations’ took place, a point which Kagami was more than happy to oblige. It wasn’t rare for wealthy individuals to own a pet or two or five, but Aomine was different, “special,” Kagami had always said. He was bred and raised up to be a prized panther specimen for the highest bidder but along the way, his ‘difficult’ attitude had caused him to be repeatedly beaten, constantly reminded of his station as a pet, an object for sex and nothing else, an ‘animal hybrid,’ less than human. He had run away just at the cusp of his adolescence and had found out first hand how hard it was to survive as a stray. He still remembered being on the brink of starvation and death when he had happened upon an estate so large that he had still thought himself to be in the forest, if not for the emergence of farm lands and a little working town. He stayed on the outskirts for the longest time scavenging from farms, before he was caught by a sky blue haired valet/head butler a few years older than him named Kuroko Tetsuya. He would never tell the boy to his face, but Aomine had instantly respected the guy for his ability to catch Aomine so quickly. It was then that he was introduced to the young master of the estate for his due sentencing. Kagami’s own gritty personality coupled with Aomine’s already festering hatred and distrust of humans served as the basis of a disastrous introduction. Aomine had expected nothing less than the punishment of death when he spit in Kagami’s face. And indeed, the redheads temper had flared and he launched himself at Aomine. They actually fought, like two normal dude bro’s brawling it out. A few minutes into the scuffle, Tetsu had somehow separated them and all Aomine could do was stand in awe as instead of ordering his head cut off, Kagami patted him on the shoulder as he mumbled a thanks for not going easy on him and rather than decreeing Aomine’s fate as pigs feed, Kagami called for Aomine to be given food so the next time they fought, it would be fair. 

Aomine Daiki considered his life to officially start that day.

It had taken almost a year before Aomine couldn’t take it anymore and his ‘hormones’ (he still stuck to that excuse) had caused him to lunge at Kagami’s lips like they were the lifeline that to a drowning man. After that, their relationship had developed into something so much more than Aomine would have ever thought himself capable of. In fact, Kagami often told him how much he loved him, how precious he was to him. So, it was no surprise that it was absolutely impossible for Aomine to be around when the reality of life reared its head through the regular visiting of the marriage proposals. Aomine would hide away, usually at the basketball courts, playing until his bones ached.

He should have known that the most recent woman was different though. He should have realized it the moment he had met her, which was telling in itself as he would always make himself scarce during these ‘meetings’. This time however, he had the absolute dishonor of encountering her when she showed up a day early without any notice or apparent rhyme or reason. Especially when she knew that the young master wouldn’t be home until the following day. Aomine hated how the memory of that day hurt him more than the combined memories of all his abuse. 

Weak, he had allowed himself to become so weak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1)


	2. Terrifying Future

Aomine usually didn’t answer the door to the main manor but he just so happened to be walking out to shoot some hoops when he almost plowed over a young lady in a frilly satin light green dress.

His stomach churned as his mind conjured up who this girl might possibly be, what she might be. He quickly got up, grunted and hastened his step before his wrist was caught by a delicate, soft hand.

“Ah, please, could you spare a minute to help me?” Her melodious voice, so very pure and innocent.

Aomine had jerked his hand out of her hold as if scalded, when in reality, he could feel gentility in those hands.

“Naw,” Aomine grunted, “door’s right there, ring the bell and someone who can help will answer.”

He bent his knees, about to bolt out of there, when her next words froze him to his core. They should have been the catalyst behind his world record sprint outta there, but fucking emotions and their fucking effects on him.

“You’re young master Kagami’s special one, aren’t you?”

It was in that moment that Aomine knew that this woman was not there to meet anyone but the person she was currently talking to.

Aomine didn’t have a response to that, all he could do was internally panic at how beautiful this woman was and wonder at when his ‘perfect’ life with Kagami would shatter. 

The girl seemed unfazed as she continued.

“I’ve heard so much about you, it’s no secret how close, how attached the young master is to his precious pet. I can see you’re seconds away from bolting so I’ll just get to the point. I don’t want to take him away from you, I’m only asking if you could make room for me. If you could allow me to be part of both of your lives.”

The only thing that caused Aomine’s feet to finally sprint out of there was the fact that he wouldn’t let anyone see him cry. Not even Kagami had that honor on the very rare occasions it even happened. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (2)


	3. The journey never ends

Aomine could count on one hand how many times he had cried. But damn, he had never cried like he did on that day. He had a feeling of unease ever since meeting her. Sure, the fact that she had actually sought him out bothered him, as that had already set her apart from the rest. But the humility and magnanimity of her request was what had stirred him up completely. Even he knew that women of high rank very rarely thought on that level, with those intentions. Most, if not all that he had come across, would be the type to want the predominant spot as the ‘wife,’ they would demand priority and special treatment as society and their social rank had so dictated. 

That’s why, when Kagami had come to him a few weeks after that encounter, looking somber and apprehensive, Aomine knew that this time, arguing and yelling back wouldn’t be enough to curtail the inevitable.

Fuck, sometimes he wished he had just died on the outskirts of the forest.

And while he wasn’t actively planning on that outcome in his future, with his bags packed and upcoming route unknown, well, unfortunately, he knew it was a possibility.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagami hadn’t stopped pacing for the last three days. He had been on edge ever since Aomine had thrown a silent tantrum and disappeared. Kagami could readily admit that the silence and bitter resignation he saw in Daiki’s beautiful blue eyes the day he had told him about his marriage, was far worse than any black eye or broken ribs. He wished Aomine had lunged at him, had taken all his frustrations out on him physically. Maybe because deep down, a part of him thought he deserved the bruises. And admittedly, that part wasn’t that deep down.

Kagami Taiga had an estate to tend to, an inheritance to leave, promises made to his departed parents, a legacy to uphold and prolong, societal norms to adhere to, and to fulfill the plan he had for his life. He had always been repulsed by the pet trade, finding it repugnant enough to steer well clear of. He had always envisioned his life as normal, in the strictest terms. A wife, children, teaching them basketball and running the manor. But then one day, a pet found its way into his life and well, his entire life had changed and instead of his children, he was teaching a rude panther-hybrid basketball. And to his chagrin, the talented asshole had picked it up quickly enough to become a challenge to Kagami himself. Kagami had always claimed it was because Aomine just had the excess time to spare for practice, time that he himself couldn’t, time that he had to dedicate to running the estate and business. Yet still, when he watched Aomine’s carefree form as he launched the ball from the most absurd of positions only to swish-sink it in, he couldn’t deny the natural talent there. Aomine Daiki was… he was something else. He had fulfilled Kagami in a way that he had never expected possible from a pet.

But then, Aomine Daiki was so much more than just a pet to him. And although Aomine had never explicitly said so, Kagami knew how much it hurt his lover to see him betrothed to another. 

Yet, yet… for some reason, Kagami had never EVER thought Aomine would run away for good. Well, ok, he sort of expected him to possibly run away for a bit, needing some alone time to sort his feelings out before returning. He had hoped that was the case when he saw a few pairs of clothes and shoes missing. He knew Aomine worked and saved what little money he got. Kagami was more than willing to throw loads of money at Aomine but he never took more than what he thought he deserved. Kagami always wondered if it was Aomine’s way of showing that he wasn’t interested in Kagami for his money. The thought made Kagami smile briefly before the omnipresent searing pain of loss shot back through his body. The thought of losing Aomine was… inconceivable to him. In fact, he had been absolutely inconsolable since Aomine hadn’t returned. Was it possible that he left for good? Was it possible that it was just too much for him to stand by while Kagami took on a wife and bore children with her? Kagami had worked hard, so hard to find a woman who would try to understand his attachment to Aomine, who wouldn’t bemoan the fact that Kagami’s bed would contain Aomine on the regular and her on the occasion. 

Not to mention, Kagami had always, ALWAYS reassured Aomine of his love, told him that no matter who else he entertains in his bed out of strict duty, that nobody could replace Daiki in his heart.

But maybe that wasn’t enough, or maybe… saying all that only served to deepen Aomine’s feeling’s, working contrarily towards Kagami’s intention of reassurance.

Whatever was going on though, Kagami had barely slept since Aomine left. As if he could sleep in that cold bed without that fluffy black tail wrapped snugly around his waist. Kagami had to get Aomine back, had to somehow make him understand that thing’s wouldn’t change between them. Well, they would but he… he still loved Aomine, would always love only and only Aomine. No matter how their lives turned out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (3)


	4. Painful reality

This time around, Aomine had braced himself for the harsh adversity of being a stray. Plus, he had the added onus of being bonded with a human, a fact that meant the lack of Kagami’s presence left a gaping, throbbing hole in Aomine’s heart. It was tied to his physiology, so whenever he thought of Kagami, he would feel a searing pain that would cause him to almost double over.

Aomine knew the pain from the bond would fade over time. But patience had never been one of his strong points. So, he tried to focus on anything BUT the redhead he had left behind. He figured it was better this way anyways. He couldn’t deal with seeing Kagami with anyone else and besides, he had disrupted Kagami’s life goals and aspirations by showing up, so leaving would just put him back on his original, intended path. Aomine couldn’t give him a marriage or kids.

 

Not to mention, he really, REALLY couldn’t handle even the thought of someone else touching his Kagami, let alone being on the same estate with his wife, his children? Not possible.

Aomine had never hated his status as a pet, a being unworthy of marriage and love, more than he did now.

But he would survive. If only to spite those who had forced him down, who had forced themselves on him. And also… possibly, for a certain redhead, whose strength and kindness had lit some sort of fire in him, a fire for life, for the finer things in life. No not material worth, but priceless none-the-less. Love, kindness, joy, laughter, competition, excelling, focus… Kagami Taiga had instilled in him characteristics that Aomine knew would help him survive much easier, much better in life.

He’d make Kagami proud. 

But he really couldn’t think of the guy too much. Luckily though, it was easy to get distracted by the harsh realities around him. Aomine had decided to stick to towns on the outer rim and especially ones without concealed clothing laws. That way, he could wear his hat without fear of being thrown in jail for hiding his “true nature.” It was just easier for him to jump from town to town before locals started wondering why he never took his hat off. He looked perfectly normal, if not for his sleek ears and fluffy tail. Luckily those hid pretty well with his loose jeans and hat. Not that he didn’t attract massive suspicion for being a pet anywhere he went but the outer rim was plagued with so many other problems, that a rogue stray wasn’t too noteworthy. Unless you were a bounty to be collected, which Aomine had only hoped his old bounty had tapered off if not completely ebbed in the years he spent with… Kagaaaah, shit, the pain, he really had to stop thinking about that damn redhead.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4)


	5. Bratty company

Aomine settled into the little shack he had started frequenting more and more recently. What with the unwanted posse following him, he sort of had no choice. He sighed as he sat down amidst the tangle of limbs, wondering yet again, how the fuck he had gotten himself into this.

It had happened about a year into his new nomadic life. He had found himself sticking to port towns with an always worn, faded, yet buoyant basketball under one arm. After the money he had saved from living with Kagami had started dwindling, Aomine was forced to find another mode of survival. And it just so happened that he had stumbled upon a few sailors fresh into port, rushing out onto the dry pavement with a… basketball. Aomine had never heard of the sport before Kagami. The redhead had claimed to have picked it up from a far away place called America while he was visiting abroad with his family as a child and had fallen in love with it. It was an obscure sport that honestly, Aomine had never figured he would come across in Japan, yet there these American sailors were, playing the sport he had come to so love as well.

Aomine had challenged them to a game, with hefty bets that is. He had won a shit ton, considering they had never come across a Japanese person who had even known of basketball, let alone could play it half decently. Plus, Aomine’s bravado at taking on three against one, not to mention the fact that he was a hybrid helped bolster his winnings. Everything led to his chances being ranked as almost nil, meaning the margins were huge. He had won enough to eat for almost three months with that one incident.

Little did he know that the sulky American losers’ eyes weren’t the only ones watching.

Aomine had at first ignored the two little ones that had approached him, asking him what he had just done. A little blonde canine hybrid and a smaller wolf with one eye peeking out from under black bangs. They were so small that Aomine would have almost trampled over them if they hadn’t spoken. They had followed him for almost half a mile, begging him to teach them how to get that much money too. Aomine scoffed at them, chastising them for not noticing how difficult it would be for them to replicate what he just did. But their persistence didn’t seem to waver as they just continued hounding him, asking him to at least tell them the name of it and where to get that rubber ball. When they dejectedly realized Aomine wasn’t budging, they resorted to asking for some money, as they had been accustomed to do, considering they were beggars and most likely, thieves. Aomine didn’t fault them for it though, it was the only road available to them, a road he had traversed himself. He just kept his wallet close to him and rounded the corner into a pantry. The obvious hybrid children had been shunned immediately and even Aomine was being demanded to take his hat off to prove he wasn’t a delinquent like them. Great, one of *those* shops. Still, Aomine grit his teeth and pulled his wallet out, enough for the flash of money to quell the disgusting baker’s insolence. He bought a bunch of dried goods with high protein and carbs, bread, nuts, dried fruits, etc. and left the shop. He looked to and fro and saw the two hybrid children making their way back towards the docks when he yelled, 

“Oi, brats!”

Aomine winced a bit as the two automatically looked back. Of course they knew that only they would be identified as ‘brats.’ Sad, pathetic old world.

Aomine leisurely walked up to them and handed them the bags.

“Sport’s called basketball, and I haven’t the slightest idea where to get another ball but even so, don’t think you’ll be able to beat those sailors all that easy. They were even a bit difficult for me, what with the balance on those sea legs, and that’s sayin’ something. Find… find somethin’ easier. G’luck.” He grunted before turning and heading on his way.

But damnit, fuck if he knew that one gesture of kindness would mean a gaggle of orphan hybrids would hound him, he woulda thought twice about his actions that day. Shit, he hadn’t even learned from his own experience with Kagami’s one act of kindness causing his own attachment.  
But nooo. Apparently, these idiot kids interpreted “something easier” as “stick around this guy and mooch off of him.” Sure, they claimed to want to “learn his ways” and he did teach them their letters and some basketball, and maybe a couple of them were getting semi-decent at it, but overall, it was still a hassle. Yet, Aomine couldn’t just abandon them.

Fuck Kagami and his instilling of kindness in him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (5)


	6. When it rains, it pours

When it rains, it pours. Literally, and figuratively. It was just around the two year mark of Aomine’s itinerant life, which had become a bit more stable in the past six months or so, due to a gaggle of brats. The rain was pouring like crazy, which had put a damper on Aomine’s plans to make some money hustling at the ports. It was the rainy season and the downpour had lasted almost two months. Not to mention, enough time had gone by in this port town that the shipments of sailors were rotating, leaving no one for Aomine to shake down with basketball wagers, not to mention the last batch of fresh faced American sailors had “heard from their buddies to steer clear of a bitch hybrid who challenged em’ at basketball.” Luckily, a few of em’ had risen to the bait Aomine had laid out, claiming them to be to chicken shit. That had allowed him to make some money, but admittedly a lot less than he was hoping.

And he had now had four kids that had taken up unwarranted residence with him. The little blonde canine hybrid, Kise Ryouta with blonde hair and honey eyes and a big floofy golden and white tail and ears to match. There was his smaller wolf brother, Himuro Tatsuya, with one eye constantly covered by his black bangs that hung down and around his bushy silver ears and tail. Those two had then dragged another pair of vagabonds on by, the most stuck up, according to Aomine, but still the most responsible of them all, a little green haired, green eyed tiger hybrid with bright orange ears and a striped tail named Midorima Shintarou. And because he was the smartest and most responsible, he was entrusted with the care of a little pink minx hybrid named Momoi Satsuki. Aomine couldn’t describe how or why he had become so enamored by the cute little girl, but he spoiled her beyond reason, well, as much as someone in his position could. Not to mention, everyone else spoiled her too. Aomine knew they were all young, very young, much younger than he had ever been while he tried to survive. And he had almost failed. Maybe that’s why he took pity on these kids, knowing what sort of strength they had to make it out there. Not to mention, it took a while for them to finally open up to him about their origins. Aomine would be lying if he said it wasn’t the sixth time he had cried in his entire life. 

But tonight, tonight was seriously contending for the seventh spot. Aomine was already in a bad mood because somehow Kise had taken his basketball out and foolishly challenged some bully human kids to see who could throw the ball into a trash can the most out of 10 tries, for some money of course. It wasn’t basketball, but it was a form of hustling with it. To no ones surprise but Kise’s, the kids lost, got angry and ended up puncturing the ball. When Kise came back, his eyes were practically swollen shut from crying and he had the sad remains of the flat ball cradled in his arms like a dead child. And Aomine had almost broken down at seeing it. That was, that was not only their life line but it was the only thing that he still had from Kagami. Sentimentality aside though, who knew how long it would take him to find another one.

On top of all of that, they hadn’t had food for almost two days, Aomine had been adamant about NONE of the kids doing any illegal or nefarious things to procure any. Begging had been a wash considering hardly anyone was out in the rain, and those miserable enough to be didn’t feel very generous. Aomine had very reluctantly allowed the kids to go out to try to scavenge for some food but instead of bringing food back, Kise and Himuro had brought back… a baby. Yes, another mutt hybrid with purple hair and eyes and little silver fox ears and tail, who they had found shivering, naked, wet, and abandoned in a dumpster. And on top of it all, the little purple bundle would NOT SHUT UP. It was wailing louder than the rain and nearby ocean combined. After Aomine had dried, warmed, and wrapped the baby, they had tried to make some baby mush from the scraps and half a glass of milk they had left but the baby smelled it and instantly threw up! Aomine was PISSED! The kid had some food in its belly and just HAD to puke it up, which would only cause it to cry even more! Eventually he couldn’t take it…! He left Kise and Himuro to try to feed and calm the kid while he went out to look for Midorima and Satsuki, who were well past their curfew as well. Aomine walked along, getting soaked to the core and colder by the minute as the misty ocean breeze ratcheted up. He finally heard a couple of loud, tumultuous voices and thought maybe the kids were in danger and hastened towards them. As he got closer, he could clearly hear a woman and man arguing. He inched closer, shimmying against the wall and peaked around it to get a look.

There he saw a man in sailor garb, grabbing a red haired woman by her arms and violently shaking her, demanding that she tell him where that devil spawn was so he could throw it in the ocean where it belonged!

The woman screamed back that she had already gotten rid of it and he wouldn’t have to worry ever again, she begged for the sailor to just leave her alone and he would never see or hear of either of them for as long as he lived.

That angered the guy even more as he pushed her to the ground, calling her a dirty whore and saying that if that thing wasn’t dead, he would make sure it and her would be resting at the bottom of the ocean. Then he kicked her before sharply turning around and stomping off towards a docked ship.

Aomine watched long enough to see the woman cast a significant glance towards some debris in the corner before she got up to hobble the opposite way. As much as he wanted to intervene, to try and help, he had more pressing matters. He had to find Satsuki and Midorima and get back to those other kids and that new addition. Aomine kept walking, coincidentally towards the pile of debris before he stopped dead in his tracks at two huddled figures hiding behind it.

He only had a second to acknowledge what was cradled between their arms before he heard a clamor of noise behind him. He turned sharply to see that sailor from before coming with a group of five or six other men with torches and weapons. Guns, sticks, shovels, etc. The woman noticed and screamed as she confronted them, begging them to please stop, please leave it, leave them be, she swore over and over again that the baby was already.

But Aomine knew better. He knew better because he could see that baby being cradled between four trembling arms. First, Kise and Himuro bring back a dumpster hybrid baby and now these two kids have ANOTHER HUMAN baby?! Noooo. No no no. Aomine wanted to yell and scream his frustrations out. But that would no doubt alert the encroaching crowd to his location and to the two, no three kids. So he very quickly and quietly ushered them in front of him and hurried off, cloaking their presence by walking behind them. As soon as they made it around a corner, Aomine grabbed the baby and they hightailed it back to that little abandoned shack they called, for lack of a better yet need for a terse term, ‘home.’ 

“Alright, WHY do you two have this kid?!” Aomine exploded upon entering the relative safety of the shelter.

“She…” Midorima shivered as he spoke “She gave him to us.. then begged us to hide and keep him quiet. She was running with him and saw us looking around the docks for food. She shoved the baby into my arms and begged us to take him and hide, she said the baby’s name is Akashi Seijuro and if the man finds him, he’ll kill him. I didn’t know what she was talking about until we saw a manic looking figure in the fog a few hundred feet behind her, screaming for her to bring that ‘thing’ to him.”

Aomine was pretty sure that this time around, those sailors wouldn’t leave that poor woman alive, especially if she was protesting at attempts to find the baby.

“And what… you just HAD to take it?! You couldn’t leave her business as her business?! You had to butt in?! What do you think this is, an orphanage?! Did you ever think that maybe that baby would have been better off dying quickly at the hands of someone else than slowly from starvation with US?! Not to mention there’s a fucking search party looking to kill that kid and we’re harboring it here with TWO kids that already have bounties on their heads! It’s a human! You don’t know the lengths they’ll go for it!”

“So…” Momoi’s soft, innocent voice perked up “because he’s a human, he doesn’t deserve a chance at life?” Her tone was of genuine concern and inquiry rather than with any hint of sarcasm or malice. 

It melted Aomine’s rigid demeanor a bit. “Th… that’s not what I meant… just… There’s already a wailing baby here and if that kid alerts those men to us, they’ll find this one here too…”

It was at that moment that Aomine noticed that there actually wasn’t any wailing coming from the shack. Oh no, did Kise and Himuro leave?! Did that purple baby die?!

Not knowing about the purple hybrid baby, Momoi and Midorima were looking at Aomine with confusion in their eyes.

Aomine ignored them and ran the ten or so steps it took to get to the only other back room and there he saw Kise and Himuro asleep with the baby huddled in between them.

But more than that, he saw baby formula and a baby bottle and diapers and a few clothes and blankets and food.

He gently shook Himuro awake then dragged him into the other room.

“What the FUCK! I TOLD YOU YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO STEAL!!! And THAT MUCH SHIT?! IN THIS RAIN!? Is anyone out looking for you two thieves right now?!”

Himuro shook his head, his bangs moving side to side. “W… we didn’t steal nuffin’! That stuff was just left outside…! We thought you had gotten it somehow… because of that!”

Himuro pointed to something in the corner of the room.

Something round. And rubber. and brand new. A brand new basketball.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6)


	7. Reunion interrupted

Aomine’s breath caught. His mind immediately flooded with who that could be from. 

Two years. He hadn’t seen him in two years, had tried to distance himself as much as possible and had gotten pretty damned good at keeping the thoughts and pain at bay. No thanks to the brats, who served as a pretty decent distraction. 

The dreams though, he could never get away from those, leaving him with restless nights more often than not.

Maybe… it was the same for Kagami.

Or maybe he had just wanted to find Aomine to make sure he was doing ok. 

Ah, that’s right. Kagami was no doubt married by now, most likely with a kid or maybe even two of his own. He was just too kind for his own good after all. Maybe this gesture was the beginning and end of it and he wouldn’t actually see Kagami at all. Maybe it wasn’t even Kagami, maybe he had just sent someone like a P.I. or Tetsu and asked them to check up on him. I mean, it’s not like Kagami or whoever left the stuff had waited around or anything.

Aomine was just coming to terms with that thought when he heard some steps outside the door.

His mind immediately went into emergency mode as he herded the kids into the back room and told them all to hide there until he gave the all clear and if something were to happen to him, to run, split up, and hide.

He walked back out to the front to be confronted by a tall, gorgeous redheaded man.

Aomine’s eyes widened and he seemed to stop breathing for a minute as they just stared at each other.

A loud raucous thunder finally jolted Aomine out of his stupor.

“Tai… Lord Kagami.”

Aomine watched those bright, affectionate, longing red eyes dull a little at his words.

But only for a second before there was a sad, sweet smile on that beautiful face and those eyes once again were looking at Aomine as if he was the most beautiful creature in the world. Oh, Aomine missed that look.

“Daiki” was the only word Kagami whispered as he took in the beautiful hybrid panther in front of him. 

Aomine’s resolve was crumbling fast at hearing his given name uttered in that voice, from the man he loved, his bonded human.

“Wh… what are you doing here?”

Before Kagami could utter another syllable, pitter patter filled the room and instantly, four tiny hybrids that barely made it up to Aomine’s knees were standing in front of the blue haired panther, with scowls on their faces and menace in their eyes. 

Heh. Kagami couldn’t help but snicker at Aomine Daiki’s signature scowl plastered on all those little tykes.

“Who are you?! Get away from Dai-nii!”

No matter how bright this redhead’s smile may have been, the kids clearly did not trust humans. 

“Heh. Got quite the lil’ army of guards, Daiki.”

Aomine was still so enamored with Kagami’s sudden presence that he hadn’t even noticed the brats surrounding him until the redhead had addressed them.

He looked down and lightly kicked Kise and Himuro’s behinds.

“Oi. Brats, I know you never listen to me, but… but just this once, I need you to leave us alone, I… I’m safe, ok? Trust me, he’s, he’s never gonna hurt me or us.”

“BULL SHIT!” lil’ Himuro spat “Look at you! You look like you’re… you look like you’re already hurt!”

“HEY! I’m not hurt you lil’ shit!” Aomine stated frustratedly as he got ready to haul all the kids back into the room forcefully.

But before he could, a voice rang out. A voice he knew so well, but one which he had never heard filled with so much pain.

“He’s right.” Kagami stated, angst etched on every feature of his face. “I did hurt him.” He continued as he knelt down on a knee to address the kids. “I hurt him immensely and in the process, I hurt myself. I’m just… I’m trying to, I mean, I’m here to apologize and fix it and you have no idea how thankful I am that you sweet, adorable kids kept him safe and sane and gave him company and and…” At this point tears were streaming down Kagami’s face and the kid’s wide eyes were settling with some sort of understanding as Midorima nodded and ushered the others quietly away into the back room.

Kagami lost all his strength after and sort of collapsed into a heap onto the ground from his knee, prompting Aomine to rush over to him.

“Oi! Taiga! Are you ok? He… hey!” He hovered over Kagami, visually checking for any signs of injury but his hands never made contact with that body that they itched to touch. Instead, his hands froze, one at Kagami’s wrist, about to check his pulse and the other above his forehead, to check for a fever. 

Kagami looked deep into those concerned, loving blue eyes before he just threw his own arms around Aomine and fell apart, bawling as if he’d just lost his entire fortune and all his loved ones.

It hurt Aomine more than anything he’d ever experienced and his bond, his pure love for this man forced his own arms around him and a few tears of his own to leak out as Kagami stuttered broken renditions of apologies and how much he missed and loved Aomine.

It took a few minutes of Kagami’s unintelligible words and Aomine’s comforting embrace before the redhead was able to compose himself enough to lean back. 

“I’ve never seen you cry.” He whispered as his calloused, large warm hands came up and cradled Daiki’s face and wiped the remnants of a few tears. If Aomine’s hands hadn’t been completely occupied, he would have covered his face with them, but instead, he shoved his face into Kagami’s shoulder and uncurled his tail from around Kagami’s body to instead furl around his face.

“Shut-up” He mumbled into Kagami’s shoulder.

“Daiki. Look at me…”

“No.”

“Stubborn asshole.”

“What are you doing here?” Aomine tried asking again.

“Seriously?! I cried all over you, apologizing and telling you how much I love you and you’re still asking that?!”

Aomine’s temper flared a bit as he dislodged himself.

“That’s not any new information, Kagami. You apologized the day I left, you told me you loved me the day I left, I dunno, knowing your crybaby ass, you probably cried at some point that day too… Doesn’t change the fact that you… you’re married or that I can’t… It doesn’t change the facts.”

“Fucking twat, does it look like I have a ring on my finger?! And what would you know about any changed facts when you LEFT!”

“Oh, shit, that’s right” Aomine started in a sarcastic tone, “I forgot how rings work! They’re permanent fixtures that can NEVER be taken off! And idiot, facts are facts for a REASON, they don’t just change. You know, the facts that you spent years reminding me of, like legacy and duty and…”

“Facts change all the time dumb shit! Laws of nature don’t! The intangible shit doesn’t! Like love and soulmates. Those trump all that other shit and I’m in love with YOU.”

The four pairs of eyes peeking from behind the other room couldn’t believe what they were seeing. These two, apparent grown-ups, yelling at each other all the while hugging.

Before Aomine could retort, Kagami kissed him.

And well, Aomine was a slave to his physiology. He could never, ever deny Kagami’s affection. And now? After two years of separation and longing for him? It was more impossible now than ever.

Aomine grunted into the kiss as he pushed himself forward more into Kagami’s body, almost crawling into the man’s lap.

Their tongues slid up against each other but he pulled back from that searing mouth just as Aomine was pushing him further back down onto the ground.

“S…stop, Daiki. Not here, not now. I… I didn’t come here for that. I need you in my life Daiki. You’re my soulmate, you’re the only one for me.”

Aomine’s eyes dulled a bit. He’d heard that before, numerous times, still didn’t negate the facts of life though.

“Maybe in our next lives, we can have everything we want.”

Kagami’s eyes clouded over.

“Next life?! Are you really that daft, Daiki?! I’m not losing you in this life!”

“Well, you don’t really have a choice now do you?! You don’t get to set the rules of society, you can’t change the fact that I’m a hybrid. You can’t change your station in life or mine! I’m not… I’m not strong enough to watch you with someone else, Kagami. I need a wide breadth from that sort of reality.”

Kagami sighed.

“I can’t change society, or you being a hybrid, or my station or yours. But I can change how I deal with it all, I can change whether I give a rats ass or not. And I don’t care, not anymore, not after… fuck Daiki, you’re so stupid, leaving like that! What kind of adult doesn’t talk to their lover, their partner, their soulmate, their FUCKING bonded human about feelings that strong. I fell in love with you, gave you priority in life over my betrothed… don’t think it didn’t pain me to have to marry and procreate. But… but nothing can compare to the pain I felt at losing you. So fuck it, I already fell in love with a hybrid, so what if I marry him?! So what if I bring him and his adorable family of rascals and raise them as my own kids?! That takes care of the marriage and kids part now doesn’t it?!”

“St… stop stop stop!” Aomine couldn’t handle being inundated with that sort of future all of a sudden.

“I can’t… TAIGA! I can’t allow that! You think I would allow you to marry me and sully your name and reputation and lose your entire fucking legacy and dishonor your household, parents, ancestors?! FUCK THAT! I left so you could get your life back on track, god damnit!”

“FUCK YOU, DAIKI! You don’t make decisions like that for me! You shoulda thought about that before spitting in my face and fighting me as a starving teenager! What’s done is done and I’m not facing my future WITHOUT YOU and THOSE KIDS and THAT’S THAT!”

Kagami’s raucous voice seemed to be the tipping point, causing two screeching wails to erupt from the back room.

But that was all secondary to the very close, very imminent voices of angry sailors, almost right outside the shack. 

“FUCK!” Aomine loudly whispered. He got up, grabbing Taiga’s hand and dragging him into the back room.

“Taiga, those sailors want that baby dead and two kids here have huge bounties on their heads.”

Taiga’s eyes widened as he heard a sailor’s voice yell about splitting up to surround and search for that “crying piece of garbage.”

“Take them to safety Taiga! Give me purple and I’ll act as a diversion. GO!”

Taiga panicked, he didn’t want to leave Aomine or that other baby alone but he knew that the safety of these kids was priority. Staying with and using his status was risky if no one knew who he was or if they even cared, not to mention they could use Aomine or the kids as collateral or even himself as ransom. Kagami wanted to offer to stay instead and for Aomine to take the kids but if those other sailors came across a fleeing Aomine cradling that child they were looking for, no doubt they would kill the baby and maybe even all of them, with or without Kagami there. All of them running wouldn’t work either, the sailors were too close, they needed a diversion.

Acting quickly, Kagami grabbed the human baby and muffled his cries in his chest as he hurriedly kicked the cardboard covering a hole in the wall and quickly retreated with four pairs of legs scurrying with him. The sooner he got these kids to safety, the sooner he could haul ass back there to help Daiki.

Taiga and the kids had been gone for maybe 30 seconds before the shack door was rudely kicked in.

“OI! What the fuck you think you’re doing barging in here like that!” Aomine put on his most menacing aura, which wasn’t hard for him.

The sailor looked to and fro before he zeroed in on the crying baby in Aomine’s arms.

Aomine had purposefully left the poor lil’ tyke uncovered enough to see his tail and ears.

It wasn’t enough apparently.

The sailor scoffed as he strode over to Aomine, gun clutched in one hand.  
“This ain’t your property, I know nuff’ to know they wouldn’t let no useless hybrid own even the likes’a this shit shack.”

Aomine stood his ground but pulled the baby closer into his body.

“I never said I own it, but I still don’t take kindly to people kicking in doors at places where I’m staying at.”

“Can’t intrude if it ain’t yers. Gimme dat dere baby.”

“Fuck off, first you think you can waltz on in here and then demand my kid?! You have some nerve. I’m outta here bub, lemme grab my baby’s stuff and you can have the shit hole or do whatever the fuck it is you were planning.”

The man’s eyes narrowed at the insult.

“You think you can talk to me like that, pathetic halfbreed?!” 

He finally made it to Aomine, who would have kicked him and disarmed him by now if not for the two other sailors making their way into the shack behind cunt sailor.

The fucker then forcefully grabbed the baby out of Aomine’s hands.

“HEY!”

The sailor then dangled the child from its tail, causing it’s wailing to go from sniffles to screeches. He then tugged hard at its ears.

“THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING PSYCHO!??” Aomine made to lunge forward before he stopped in his tracks at the gun pointed straight at the baby’s head.

“Ya know… coulda sworn I heard a couple a guys arguing in here, just like skwell back there swears he hurd more an’ one baby cryin’ round these parts. In’t that right, skwell??”

“Yuuup.”

“Look. Just… just don’t hurt the baby. I was the one yelling, mad that there exists people in this world sick enough to hurt innocent children. I found that baby in a dumpster earlier, made me mad is all.” Aomine knew he shouldn’t provoke the fucks, but shit, maybe if he got them mad enough at him, they would forget about purple.

Seemed to do the trick.

“Oh…? That some sorta sly dig at how I’m treatin’ this thing here? This thing that society don’t think is worth a used toe nail fer?” He then threw purple into the far corner, the baby’s wails increasing tenfold.

FUCK. Aomine scrambled to go check on him before stalling at a gun pointed right between his eyes.

“You stay right thur. Ain’t yur kid, just like this ain’t yur house… Now, I don’t know much about split personalities or nuthin’ but I coulda swore I heard two real differnt voices yellin’ in here, so yur gonna tell me the truth, one way or nuther.”

“I don’t know what the fuck else you want me to say.”

“Hrm… maybe I can do a lil’ somethin’ to help you figure that out.”

Aomine tasted bile from the look the other man was giving him. The sick fuck wasn’t focused on Aomine’s face, that’s for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (7)


	8. 9 Panther Kitten Lives, each one with you

About halfway to where Kagami was staying, he felt four hands tugging at his shirt.

He looked down into green and grey eyes.

Everyone was panting from running, with Kagami in a bit better shape.

“G…gimme baby” Midorima panted, “Go back for Dai-nii. Th… those men are horrible. They already killed the mother of that baby.”

“I can’t, he’ll be ok, I swore to get you to safety. Hurry so I can get back!”

“NO!” Tatsuya and Kise yelled, the blonde continuing, “Just tell us the name of the place you’re staying, we know enough to get there safely, we’ll hide and wait for you near there! Go get Dai-nii, please!”

Now even Taiga was panicking a bit. He wanted to ensure everyone’s safety. He looked down, needing to make a split second decision and when he saw four pairs of eyes with determination that rivaled a pair of brilliant sapphires, he knew these kids would be ok.

“I’m at Hearths inn. You know it?” Kagami hastily handed the baby over into Midorima’s arms.

“Yes.”

“You kids stay safe, you hear me. Keep out of sight and keep that baby quiet, ok!? None of this matters if you guys don’t make it! If I’m not back by daybreak or…” Kagami paused, unwilling to finish that thought, opting to instead continue with his instructions “wait for a boy with sky blue hair and eyes named Kuroko Tetsuya to show up and tell him everything that happened.”

The intensity behind this random man’s kindness was astonishing to the children. All of a sudden, they could understand why their Dai-nii had bonded with him. They nodded and immediately went into the shadows. Even Taiga was sort of in awe at how quickly they disappeared.

He hurried back towards the shack, HOPING Aomine and the baby were still there doing perfectly fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aomine was on his knees with a gun in his mouth.

It had been jammed in there shortly after he had told the disgusting sailor that he was a bonded pet to a lord that could destroy them with the snap of his fingers.

The man belly laughed at how stupid this hybrid piece of shit thought he was. He was clearly living in this shack with a dumpster baby yet he was a bonded pet of a lord?! 

And even Aomine winced at what he said. Of course that fucking excuse was probably used all the fucking time by strays. 

Fuck.

The man kept his gun steady in Aomine’s mouth before his hand went to his fly and started unbuttoning it.

“Oi, skwell, get o’re here n’ point a gun at this thing, imma need bof ma hands fer what I got planned.”

“Heh… thot you was into human females, rawls? Now that ur tricks gone, you dun switched it up or wut?” The other man grumbled while obediently walking forward and aiming his big ass rifle at Aomine’s head.

“Meh. Figgered I needed a lil’ change, plus, this ones a male, can’t get pregs, and… his smart ass mouth needs ta learn a lesson, ta learn his place in the… scheme a’ things.”

Aomine froze. Fuck fuck, no, no no no, he was faithful to Kagami, he made sure to steer clear of any hustles that involved men who looked at him funny. He couldn’t allow this to happen, he… he was faithful, loyal, he… he would rather die than break that commitment, even if it was forced against his will.

Aomine stood up as a rifle shot went right past his head, leaving a trail of searing gunpowder on his face.

“Get back down, ya mutt!” The rifleman called the warning with his shot. “Or the next one goes through your head.”

“Go ahead, shoot me, it’s the only way you’re getting what you want from me.”

“Ohh, I don’t know, I think I could get it another way too…” Aomine wasn’t quick enough before the butt of a gun rammed the top of his head, rendering everything black, void.

He hoped he was dead.

He hoped Kagami would forgive him and live a happy life without him.

He couldn’t wait to find Kagami in his next life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (8)


	9. Divine Punishment

Kagami Taiga hadn’t ever run as fast as he did after he heard that gun shot.

His entire being froze for a femto-second before he barreled forward towards that raggedy shack.

He ran and ran and ran and as soon as that shack was in sight, he yelled and screamed Aomine’s name and curses and threats at whoever that he better fucking be ok.

He launched himself through the hole in the wall and almost puked from the panic of seeing his pet’s clearly unmoving body. But the nausea from panic was secondary to the absolute disgust and anger he felt welling up inside him after he noticed that THANK GOD there was no blood and Aomine was still shallowly breathing. It was hard to tell with his body propped up against the wall, ass out and a man with his pants down moving Aomine’s tail out of the way before moving his hard cock towards the his puckered hole.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TO MY PET YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES?!” Kagami roared at the top of his lungs before lunging at the fucker who was about to rape his pet.

He grabbed the guys gun and pointed it at his head before the he noticed a huge rifle aimed at him and another guy with a metal bat coming at him. Kagami grabbed the pantless guy around the neck and held the gun to his temple, effectively holding him hostage.

“You fucks try ANYTHING and I’ll kill this fucktard SO QUICK.” 

Honestly, he wanted to do it anyways, and he might just.

It was in that moment when four other sailors barged in with guns and weapons drawn.

“K… Kagami-sama?!” One of the sailors stepped forward and lowered his gun.

“SHIT, everyone PUT YOUR GAWD DAMNED GUNS DOWN, that’s Lord Kagami for fucks sake! Wealthiest lord in the northern province!”

Kagami breathed a sigh of relief when all the weapons were immediately holstered. Thank god he had gotten to know quite a few of the shipyard personnel in his quest to find Aomine. 

“W… what are you doing here, Kagami-sama?!”

Kagami pushed the fucker in his arms down to the ground before he roughly stepped on his junk.

Everyone winced at the pained scream from their fellow sailor.

“What’s this sailor’s name? This thing who was about to rape my one and only precious pet? You know, the one that I had come to town to find… to specifically inquire about?”

Kagami had made it very clear there was NO bounty on Aomine’s head when he had asked around about him. In fact, he made it clear that he wouldn’t reward anyone for helping to find him but they would have his gratitude if they could give him any information.

“Oh… fuck…” The man on the ground muttered.

“His name is rawls spaakter. He’s a boatswain on our ship.”

“And your ship and captain’s names?” Kagami said as he went over to Aomine’s slumped form and started to make him decent, while checking him over.

He wasn’t entirely sure, but as soon as his hands touched Aomine, he felt like his breathing had strengthened a bit. 

“What did you do to him, vile scum?!”

“I just… clocked him on the head with the butt of the gun… I didn’t, I’m so sorry sir, I didn’t know he was… he, I thought he was living in this shack with that dumpster baby and…”

Kagami finally remembered the baby!

“Where’s the baby?!”

The asshole who had pointed a rifle at Kagami pointed to a fidgeting lump in the corner.

“Get a medic immediately!” A sailor called out the door while another one went to diligently pick up the baby and bring it to Kagami, who hadn’t left Aomine’s side. “Our ship’s the Maidenvoyage with Captain Garthish” The same sailor answered Kagami’s earlier query.

Kagami took the baby and looked him over before ordering one of the sailors to get its bottle from the other room. The sailor wasn’t exactly sure how to make the formula so he put excessive amounts of sugar in it and gave it to Kagami. The sniffling, clearly upset baby latched onto it almost immediately, sucking it down.

It took another few minutes before a man came in with a doctors bag and knelt down to examine the baby and Aomine.

Kagami didn’t know how he held his emotions together through it all. His rage was a living breathing thing that he wanted to unleash and would, at a time when his concern for Aomine’s wellbeing wasn’t his predominant emotion.

Kagami called for a carriage to come get them both. It was the fastest way back to the inn. Hopefully he would see five other children waiting there unharmed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (9)


	10. Warm bed means YOU

Aomine groaned at his splitting headache. He turned around in the warm bed, searching for something to hold onto, someone.

Because he was in a warm, soft bed. So Kagami must be in here with him somewhere. Right?!

Wait. Warm bed? Kagami? That’s not right. He should be on a cold floor in a dingy old shack with errant sailors all around him…

SHIT.

Aomine jolted awake, having to immediately shield his eyes from the bright light shining through the window.

Where was he?! He looked around and saw another bed next to him with four bodies huddled underneath covers. Next to it he saw two bassinets with two babies in it. He finally looked in the other direction and lo and behold, asleep next to him in the bed was none other than his Kagami.

Heh. He was always such a deep sleeper. Not to mention, he looked so peaceful. And even Aomine was getting sleepy again, sleepy like he hadn’t felt since he left that big manor behind. Aomine sidled close to Kagami, wrapping his body and tail around the sleeping figure. It wasn’t Aomine’s intention, but those red eyes fluttered open.

“D…Daiki??” Kagami’s eyes widened.

“Why are you so astounded it’s me? You put me in this bed and went to sleep next to me.”

“Hehe, shut-up dummy, I’m just glad you’re finally awake is all! You’ve been unconscious for the last day or so!”

“DAY?! Shit, those fucks! Kagami… did they… I mean…”

“No, shh…” Kagami hugged Aomine closer to him to the point where it was hurting his limbs, “No, I got there just in time.”

“And purple? Is purple ok?! The fucker threw him across the room!” Aomine spoke in hushed tones.

“He’s fine… kids have spent most of the day trying to come up with a name for him.”

“Huhn? What’s wrong with purple?”

“It’s a color, dumbass.”

“You’re a color.” Aomine petulantly mumbled.

“Everyone’s a color! Just… shut up and go back to sleep…”

“Hrm…” 

“I love you. Don’t you dare leave my side ever again.”

“Yeah yeah… hey, how’d you even find me?” Aomine said through a yawn as he laid his head back against Kagami’s clavicle, tucked under his chin.

“Hrm? I don’t think I got a days work done in the last two years since I’ve been searching for you. Spent so much time, money, energy on all these private investigators yet I finally found you in the stupidest, luckiest way. Got a fresh shipment of crude oil and steel from an American ship. Kuroko overheard the delivery guys mentioning some arrogant hybrid asshole who slayed them at basketball.”

“Ah… yeah, that’ll do it… I, I’m sorry, that you were in so much pain from my leaving you.”

“Yeah, I don’t really get it, I thought I had made it clear how much I love you… but I guess, I guess it was wrong of me to make it seem like it was an inevitable fact that I had to get married with kids. I mean, obviously how could you open up about your feelings to me with that sort of pressure?! I get it. And we should definitely talk more. Later though, “ Kagami said through a yawn, “Mmm… hey, I didn’t want to ask them directly, but which two have bounties on their heads?”

“Taiga…”

“Just shut up and tell me Daiki, or I’ll ask them directly.”

Aomine sighed, knowing Kagami’s stubborn ass, “Kise Ryouta and Momoi Satsuki, 10k and 8k respectively.”

“Hrm… got it. Now, sleepy time…”

“What about that woman you were gonna marry?”

“Ugh. What part of sleepy time do you not understand?!”

“Fuck you, asshole… I’m just…”

“She’s long gone. God, after all our years together, you still don’t understand that the whole operation fails without you. If you’d just opened up to me about how you were planning on fucking leaving if I married, do you really think I would have gone through with it?!”

“Didn’t want to hold you back…”

“Tch… you don’t hold me back, idiot, you make me a better man. I’ve been a fucking mess without you, you know.”

“Mmmm… good.”

“Oi! Fuck you too asshole!”

“Heh. Shut-up, you’re the one who just admitted that a so called ‘idiot’ makes you a better man. You know it was hard for me too, plus, I had the added bonus of being bonded to you. Bet you didn’t double over in pain every time you thought of me.”

“Damn near did.”

“Mmmm… good.”

“Wow. Why the fuck do I love you?!”

“Because I’m hawt stuff. And I can beat your ass in basketball.”

“That’s just because you got to practice more.” Kagami sullenly muttered.

“Mmm hrmm… keep tellin’ yourself that.” Aomine mumbled, finally allowing himself to cross over into the realm of sleep. Kagami happily followed.

After all, he’d follow Aomine Daiki anywhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (10)


	11. 16 years later

**16 years later**

“Do you sense something between Atsushi and Sei…? The giant’s been hovering over him since that run in with those thugs a few weeks ago.” Kagami pondered the thought aloud with a bewildered look on his face. About a month or so ago, Akashi had been on a business trip and had been ensnared into a ‘supposedly’ intricate plan of betrayal and deceit with the end goal of blackmailing the heir to the Kagami family into an illicit betrothal. If only they hadn’t chosen the absolute smartest person to ever live as their target, they may have been successful. Hell, Akashi’s intelligence and ability to practically see the future was the reason Kagami felt so secure in handing over the reigns at the ripe age of sixteen.

Aomine looked over at his husband with incredulity spread across his features. “You’re so daft, oh my god… you seriously haven’t noticed?! That lazy giant who usually only lifts a finger to eat has been traveling around the world with Sei on business trips almost immediately after you announced him as your heir and you’re JUST noticing?!”

“Wh…WHAT?! Shut up assface! Don’t act like it’s some obvious thing! You KNOW he goes everywhere with him to get more candy for his bottomless pit of a stomach!”

“ha… that’s rich coming from you.”

“I eat a NORMAL amount! and even if it’s maybe a bit more than you anorexic people, well, it’s not 100% sugar like purple!”

Aomine scooted closer into Kagami’s warmth as he poked his stomach lightly with his tail, mumbling about where the hell it all goes.

Kagami wrapped his arms tighter around his pet, nuzzling his face into those sleek black ears.

“I work it all off. Besides basketball and keeping your libido sated, I definitely have more than enough activity to keep me fit.”

“Hrmm…” Aomine burrowed into Kagami even more, clearly becoming aroused by the redhead’s words. “Well, is it just me, or am I feeling a little bit of pudge right… here?” Aomine’s tail moved down from the redhead’s stomach to instead prod at the growing bulge in his pants.

“God… you really are insatiable.”

“I’ve never known you to back down from a challenge.”

“Haha… coming up on sixteen years of marriage and I still… mmmm…” Kagami was expertly shut up by Aomine’s tail wrapping snugly around his bare cock.

“You what?” Aomine huskily whispered in Kagami’s ear before nibbling the outer lobe and running his rough tongue over the contours.

“I just… I love you.”

Well, Aomine apparently wasn’t expecting that. It’s not that they never said sweet phrases to each other while getting frisky but more often than not, the content was down right dirty, filthy, raunchy and soooo good.

“Wh… what brought that on?”

“I don’t know, I guess it just hit me that I really have been married to you for sixteen years. And how lucky I am.”

“You know you’re not the lucky one in this arrangement, dumbass.”

It was true. Granted the ceremony had been exclusive to only their family and wasn’t officially recognized. But no one batted an eye at Kagami’s story of breaking it off with his cheating fiance before their wedding. Especially with the addition of an out-of-wedlock baby that so happened to resemble the redhead immensely to back up his claims. Kagami’s desire to keep the woman’s identity secret went fully along with his kind, discrete nature, as an attempt at sparing her any ridicule or hardships. 

And being ‘scorned’ also served as ample enough reason for Kagami to supposedly swear off women altogether. Nice, how things worked out.

“I dunno,” Kagami continued “if you felt half as content and happy as I am, then you wouldn’t scoff at how grateful I am to you and those rascals.”

“You mean the six orphan hybrids and one child who you welcomed and raised and even married one?! Those kids who didn’t have a single shot at life, that you gave a home, food, stability, love and futures to? Oh yeah… YOU’RE the one who should be grateful…” Aomine had started edging away from Kagami’s warmth, about ready to bolt out of there if those infernal water works started to act up.

“Ah ah ah… you’re not going anywhere mister.” Kagami hooked his legs around Aomine, effectively caging the panther in. “I’m not done showing you how grateful I am… and maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel obliged to do the same?”

Aomine smirked… Getting more comfortable with the direction of foreplay.

“Mrrmmm… Oh, I do sooo want to please my masterrr…” Aomine purred as he roughly shoved Kagami onto his back and slithered down his body. Before reaching his tasty goal, however, Kagami roughly grabbed Aomine’s tail, pulling it to one side.

“Tsk tsk tsk, turn around my sexy panther, I said I want to show my gratitude too, didn’t I?!”

Oh. Ohhhh. Aomine very quickly obeyed, sliding out of his shorts as he turned around on top of Kagami, his hard member perched over a heated mouth, breaths on his engorged flesh driving him wilder than he could imagine. God, even as the hybrid in their relationship, sometimes Aomine couldn’t believe how animalistic Kagami was. 

And today was no different as Kagami briefly teased with his hot breath before he fully took his pet in his mouth. Licking, sucking, tonguing the head and throbbing veins all the way down to those hanging sacs which he played with in his mouth, occasionally brushing his teeth up against one or the other.

Aomine could barely function on his end of it with Kagami rendering him useless by the sheer fervor in his ministrations.

Damn it, that bastard’s eating habits really did allow that damn mouth to do extraordinary things.

Aomine was a moaning, writhing mess… Which was completely Kagami’s intention. Sure, he wouldn’t have minded a bit of a blow job from Daiki but in all honesty, the warmth and graciousness that flooded him when he off-handedly realized it was their sixteenth anniversary left Kagami an internal puddle of sappy goo. Aomine hadn’t figured the date out quite yet, but they were never big on celebrating such dates, almost always being reminded by their children. It wasn’t as if that slip of paper with a meaningless date on it held any significance to the two anyways. The weight and solidity of the rings that hung around their necks were enough of a symbol for them. The rest was all internal, manifested by their outward devotion and conviction towards one another.

Because they had each other and six wonderful kids. And being blessed enough to take care of all of them, Kagami really couldn’t ask for more in life.

Those kids loved and cherished him and Aomine so much, all becoming successful in their own right. 

No one second guessed Seijuro as Kagami’s son. On official records, he was Kagami Seijuro but his family knew him as Akashi, a sweet testament to his mother, who had died trying to save him. Kagami had tried to find her back then, had attempted to pry her fate from that wretched sailor, but the cumbucket stayed adamant to his story of only roughing her up and letting her go. But the trail of sharks and sea life surrounding the area of the altercation said otherwise. Still, that sailor had been punished accordingly to the verifiable crimes he committed. He had his left foot severed and was offered a mercy trek home, only to be grounded at their mother port.

After Seijuro, Kise was the second most successful. The blonde beauty was a hybrid model whose popularity grew from within the village out towards the whole northern province before his manager, Momoi Satsuki’s connections and hard work had propelled him to intercontinental fame. The two were constantly traveling all over, often times with Kuroko tagging along for safety. The valet had been imbued with lordship, a title, and land. Momoi and Kise had been claimed as his pets. For safety and because well, the infernal laws.

Midorima was regarded as the best hybrid doctor in the region and possibly the world and if the rankings allowed for him to be compared to humans, then his family, compatriots, and patients were sure he would outrank any of them as well. He and Murasakibara had been claimed under Seijuro. And considering hybrids matured much quicker than humans but had the same life expectancy, it wasn’t uncommon for rich benefactors to bestow a pet to a child as a present to grow alongside them. A gruesome trade that the entire Kagami family considered as trafficking of living beings.

And that was what Himuro had taken a cause up as. He was a hybrid rights lawyer and activist. It caused him to be a constant target so he often travelled with Seijuro and Atsushi. Midorima mostly stayed at his clinic but Kagami and Aomine would oftentimes escort him or Himuro to their respective duties if they conflicted with Seijuro’s schedule.

Himuro and Midorima were active in Purple and Seijuro’s upbringing and it was clear how very close the four were. Aomine had noticed the pheromones that surrounded those four often. And it was only after he smelt Himuro’s scent clearly indicating towards Seijuro and Purple and even Midorima at times, that his jealousy ebbed at the fact that Kagami had claimed Himuro Tatsuya as a second pet.

It just seemed too ostentatious for them to claim more than two pets and Seijuro wanted to seem more conservative. Aomine had begged Tetsu to claim Himuro but he was reluctant after having his hands full with Satsuki and Kise. It was clear those two had bonded with their human ‘owner.’

Which left Himuro Tatsuya as the only one without a claim. Which was just unacceptable. It was concerning to Aomine how quickly Tatsuya and Kagami had become close, bonding over their shared love of cooking. Sure, Aomine had always regarded Tatsuya as his adopted child, as did Kagami. But still, it scared him that once Tatsuya reached puberty he might bond with Kagami.

But thankfully, that had never even been a real issue rather an illusion cooked up in Aomine’s over jealous mind. Tatsuya had always looked at Kagami with stars in his eyes, but so had all the other kids. And Kagami had always treated Tatsuya like a son. It was only when Aomine scented Tatsuya’s attraction towards Purple and Seijuro that he finally understood that Himuro also saw Kagami as his father figure.

After all, none of them had ever had parents to start with. Aomine and Kagami could see what having two loving, doting parents could churn out. Instead of the usual, dormant, dependent hybrid pets that everyone was so used to seeing, Aomine and Kagami had children who excelled in their own right, breaking the mold and becoming successful.

“Oyyy, what’re you thinking about?!” Aomine exclaimed as his tail went to bonk Kagami on the head.

“Ahhh?” Kagami’s attention was drawn back to the gorgeous writhing hybrid underneath him, “Nothing much, just how wonderful you feel wrapped around me.” 

He wasn’t lying. As soon as Aomine whimpered, Kagami’s entire being was attuned only to the sexy panther kitten below him.

“Then prove it.” Aomine whined as Kagami thrust up hard into him in an attempt to do exactly that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (11)


	12. Epilogue

A few hours later, both Kagami and Aomine made their way down to the kitchen only to be bombarded by the sight of six of their lovely kids and one Kuroko Tetsuya lounging around their giant living room area. Aomine and Kagami’s eyes widened as they spotted Seijuro in his usual spot on the far desk against the window, face deep in papers with Midorima on the opposite side reading a book and a shared shogi board between them. Himuro was attempting to teach Momoi and Kuroko a few recipes he had written for them. Kise was poking and prodding at Murasakibara’s plethora of snacks in an attempt to try and nab one. And failing miserably at it.

They all looked up as Aomine and Kagami both came downstairs, loudly arguing about what Kagami would make them for breakfast. Kagami was just putting on airs, having already decided to treat his husband to whatever he wanted on this special day of theirs. 

“WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?!” Kagami exclaimed at the sight of everyone.

“Sei, don’t you have a meeting with those American distributors today? And Kise, I thought you were going overseas tomorrow? Tatsu, what about that huge case you’re working on?! Whhaaa..!?” Kagami continued as he looked from kid to kid.

Aomine was just as shocked as Momoi ran up and tackle hugged him.

He hugged her back and lightly kissed her hair as she then extracted herself and changed her target to the redhead.

Everyone started stuttering and talking at the same time, which was a very often occurrence in their household. As was the the next phenomenon of everyone eventually quieting down to let Seijuro, Midorima, or Himuro eventually act as their representative.

Seijuro stood up and walked over towards his parents to embrace them both as well. As he did so, he spoke, “My meeting was rescheduled and moved to coincide with Kise going overseas, we have decided to travel together in a few days. As for Himuro, he and Murasakibara will be handling the case over the next month or so. And because it’s so high profile, I believe Midorima will also be seeing a few patients in that town as well. Kuroko and Momoi will be traveling with us. And as for why we are back, well, if we weren’t here to remind and help you celebrate, then we all firmly believe this day would have been completely forgotten by the both of you.”

“Shit!” Aomine shouted, “Whose birthday am I missing?!” He immediately started pushing away the throngs of his kids who were lining up to hug them as well. He started glaring from one to the other in order to cross each one off the list of potential birthday candidates.

“You haven’t overlooked anyones birthday Aomine.” Midorima spoke up. “At least not today.” 

And boy wasn’t THAT the truth. If it wasn’t for the handy dandy special birthday calendar that Tetsuya and Kise had bought him, Aomine would be completely oblivious. And admittedly, even with the calendar, he was pretty bad.

“Th...then what!?” Aomine’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“It’s your 16th anniversary, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko’s figure appeared next to Daiki, causing the latter to jump almost a foot off the ground.

But as he landed and processed the words, his face softened. He looked over to Kagami and saw the man had that same affectionate look on his face that he had been sporting all morning. 

“Oh… that’s why…” Aomine spoke to himself, remembering the soft, intimate words and touches of his husband earlier in bed.

Kagami just smiled a smile that affected everyone around but was meant only and only for his one and only husband and lovely pet.

“Happy anniversary, Daiki. I love you.” Kagami closed the slight distance between them and gave his love a delicate kiss on the cheek.

Aomine’s cheeks immediately turned pink and everyone cooed at how cute it was for them to still have that effect on each other even after this many years. 

Aomine just told everyone to shut up as he attempted to hide his reddening face. He would answer Kagami. He would definitely respond to the love confession, just, not right now. He would wait, do it when they were alone and it would only be heard by the one person it was meant for. 

As Kise and Himuro dragged Aomine into the adjoining dining area, which had a huge amount of varying dishes spread across the giant table, Kagami lagged a bit behind, watching his entire family and wondering, not for the first nor last time, just HOW it was possible for anyone to doubt just HOW MUCH they had given him. 

They completed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (12 epilogue)

END


End file.
